Dubya's Commandments

[lthuedk]

Regards,

Stephen

[Heidi]

1. That breaks my heart.

Because it's so true. Thank you.

Too, I'm awed by your use of technological media to give the appearance of pastel. Pastel is beyond my grasp, despite many hours of experimentation.

[lthuedk]

2. Thank you! I hadn't thought of it that way. Years ago, I did some

stuff using pastel, but stopped developing the media for some reason. What is possible with digital I have only begun to explore. What I find so far is that the effect of a 6-8B charcoal pencil, long tip sharpened, can be emulated with Photoshop tools. But, it is very difficult to draw a form-descriptive line and tangentials. A wet brush, or a combined wet/dry effect can be employed, as well. But, the latter needs more than one stroke.

Also, if one wanted to play off of the direction of stroke using ambient light, well, that would require lots of close, after the fact digital work.

I keep telling myself that its all about control of contrasts and design, and it has worked to keep me from thinking that digital is too limited. When faced with myriad options, such as those in PS, I find it useful to really pare down the choices, similar to the act of executing any other type of draughtsmanship using conventional tools. And, although I am a long way from portraying the feel and rhythms of my figurative studio drawings, there is hope that a change in mindset could give satisfactory results. Will my current digital tools ever render line control like I used to achieve in three minutes? No.



Would a revisited line do the job? Yes, but in a deliberate and comparatively "dishonest" way. So far, revisiting tends to spoil a discovered line that works globally, poetically, by sparking the left hemisphere into over analysis. For me, the interruption ruins the work.

That you saw characteristics of pastel in my work is very, very encouraging though, and I'm thankful for your eye and comment.

Stephen

[Heidi]

3. I understand perfectly.

But for me, although I know how to use my high-tech "tools," I can't get into that "zen place" that I find so easily with brushes, paint, oil and other very tactile media.

I love that sketch, by the way. Have you seen any of Egon Schiele's sketches? That's sort of what your sketch reminds me off -- lots of attention to the role of negative space. Thank you for sharing it.

[lthuedk]

4. No, I haven't seen Schiele's work. And, thanks again.

You've nailed it: Tactility, feel of the support's tooth, allows so much control...I long to return to it. But first, I need to satisfy my political urges. I do realize this necessitates an illustrative rather than elemental approach, and that concerns me. If however, I can develop and grow-and recognize useful nuance-then, O.K.

Add risk to the loneliness.

Returning to Matisse over and over for more than a decade and keeping Morandi close to my heart, gives me solace, and motivates me. More than I can tell you now, I need to return to the real search. But there's work to do before I drop out again.

After all, the choices are far from played out.

Stephen